UK Politics Thread part II

[Jimbuna]

SNP branded 'out of touch' after applying to put 'for independence' alongside its logo on general election ballot papers

The Scottish National Party was branded 'out of touch' today after it was revealed the separatists have applied to put 'independence' alongside its logo on general election ballot papers.

Humza Yousaf's party has lodged an official request with the electoral commission to use one of two designs when people cast votes this year.

They both feature the word 'independence prominently'. It comes a day after the party made its latest attempt to convince Scots to back independence, a decade after losing the referendum.

But critics suggested the party should focus on other more pressing issues at the election later this year. The SNP is expected to lose a string of seats to Labour that could see it replaced as the biggest party in Scotland at Westminster.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: 'Nobody can now be in any doubt that the SNP cares more about dividing people than it does about the issues which really matter to voters in an election – like public services, the cost-of-living crisis, and the climate emergency.

'The nationalists are completely out of touch with the people of Scotland. 'This election must be about the people's priorities; not the SNP's negative campaign to break up the UK.'
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other...b34626f3&ei=10

[Moonlight]

I think the SNP are flogging a dead horse with this constant Independence nonsense, they couldn't convince the Scottish people when they were in their prime and they'll struggle to convince them at the next General Election as well.
And that begs the question of, how will they fare in the next election?, I'm going to take a wild stab at this and say they'll lose 10 to 15 seats, or a nightmare scenario could develop where they lose 20 to 30 seats. Could they gain any seats?, well, with all these accusations of government mismanagement being bandied about that's not very likely but, its not totally impossible, I think Mr Useless Yousaf's time is up though and if he had any honour at all he'd do the decent thing and fall on his sword.

There are 3 or 4 hundred MPs down in Westminster who need to do that as well, all those career politicians need to go, they've never amounted to much in the past and they'll never amount to much in the future either, just do one decent thing in your life and **** off into the night will you.

[Jimbuna]

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cuts workers' National Insurance by another 2p in the Budget, meaning it falls from 10% to 8%

He also increases the child benefit threshold from £50,000 to £60,000

Hunt says the National Insurance cut, to begin next month, is worth £450 a year for the average worker.

It follows a 2p cut in last year's Autumn Statement - but there is no change to income tax.

Labour leader Keir Starmer calls the Budget a "last desperate act" with people paying "more and more for less and less"

New official forecasts say the government will collect 37.1p per pound of GDP in 2028/29 - the highest level in nearly 80 years.

The OBR also says the economy will grow faster than expected - that, plus some tax rises, and existing "fiscal headroom", are what's funding the cuts.

Hunt also increases the VAT threshold for small businesses to £90,000, and announces higher taxes on vapes and business class flights.

And he says he's "abolishing" the "non-dom" tax system, but new arrivals to the UK will still not pay taxes on foreign income for four years.

[Jimbuna]

[Moonlight]

MAY STANDS DOWN Theresa May to stand down as MP at next election as former Prime Minister says ‘it’s been honour & privilege to serve’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politi...nd-down-as-mp/

How can you be useless for 27 years and get away with it?, it helps if you have brain dead Maidenhead constituents like she's had, now do the decent thing and take them all down to the town square and shoot the idiots dead, don't forget about Theresa, I wouldn't want her to miss out on the fun.

[Jimbuna]

Labour to seek savings to fund policy promises after Jeremy Hunt's Budget

Labour now intends to pay for its NHS and school breakfast plans through future savings to public spending if it wins power, Rachel Reeves has said.

The party had planned to fund the flagship policies by replacing the UK's current "non-dom" tax regime.

But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the same move at Wednesday's Budget, to fund a cut to National Insurance.

His Labour counterpart Ms Reeves has admitted it will force her to tweak her own plans.

Speaking to the BBC, she said Labour would now "go through every pound" in the government's spending plans to fund the policies.

"But we will find that money, because it is a national priority, and its is a Labour priority," she added.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68499693

[Jimbuna]

[Moonlight]

^Just out of curiosity, if you send the Labour Party a small donation will it stop all of these begging letters?.

[Jimbuna]

I've tried clicking on the unsubscribe button a couple of times but doesn't seem to have any tangible effect.

TBH I'm not really that bothered really.

[Jimbuna]

Rachel Reeves - the shadow chancellor was asked if there would be cuts to government spending if Labour wins the next election.

Reeves admitted Labour would not be able to turn things around straight away - but has said there would be an "initial injection of cash" into public services.

Asked about Labour ditching its £28bn green pledge, Reeves blamed former PM Liz Truss and ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget for affecting what an incoming Labour government can do and also said she's working with businesses to find investment.

When asked by a Labour voter what the difference is between Labour and the Conservatives' fiscal policies, Reeves said her party plans to close tax loopholes to inject cash into public services.

[MGR1]

A little late, but understandably this hasn't gone down too well:

Hunt says Scottish oil and gas industry is budget loser

Even if their own message on oil and gas is a master example of confusion, the Nats are making hay, whilst the Scottish Tories are both fuming and disparing. SLab's somewhere in the middle, at least as far as I can tell.

As long as the Tories are able to win the election in England, then the rest of the UK can go hang, as it were.

People complain about the iniquities of the Barnett Formula (with justification), but how can Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make a go of trying to pay their way when their economies get trashed just to satisfy X party's voter base in England?

All that does is increase the need for transfer payments from England to the smaller nations.

Which satisfies no one.

Mike.

[Jimbuna]

^ Can't disagree with you there.

[Jimbuna]

Baptisms 'a ticket to something' for some asylum seekers - vicar

Some asylum seekers see baptisms "as a ticket to something" and most baptism requests were when they were appealing an asylum claim, a vicar has told MPs.

Rev Matthew Firth told the Home Affairs select committee he was brought groups of asylum seekers looking to convert.

MPs were hearing evidence after it was claimed Clapham attacker Abdul Shokoor Ezedi got asylum on the grounds of his conversion to Christianity.

The Bishop of Chelmsford told MPs she queried Rev Firth's claims.

"The figures don't quite add up to me," the Right Reverend Guli Francis-Dehqani said.

She added: "I have spoken to clergy who have turned people down [for baptism] because they did not feel they met the criteria."

The clergy took baptisms very seriously, she said.

Rev Firth, who was a priest at St Cuthbert's church in Darlington, left the Church of England in 2020, and is now a vicar for the Free Church of England.

He previously wrote in the Telegraph that there was a "conveyor belt" system of baptisms of asylum seekers hoping to obtain leave to remain in the UK on religious grounds.

He told MPs that when he came to St Cuthbert's in 2018 he found there was a "surprising number" of asylum seekers being baptised.

He honoured the ones that were already in process but then "started to look into it a bit further".

He said: "After those baptisms, week-in, week-out, significant groups of mainly Iranian and Syrian young male asylum seekers were being brought to me in sizeable cohorts."

Rev Firth told MPs that cohorts of "six or seven" people were brought to him "every two or three weeks".

Asked who brought the asylum seekers to him, Rev Firth said: "There was a particular individual who I think had received right to remain in the UK through the asylum application system."

"This particular individual", he added, "was bringing lots of people who [he] said needed to be baptised".

The Diocese of Durham has strongly rejected Rev Firth's claims.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68543879

[Moonlight]

Tens of thousands of migrants with failed asylum applications will 'be offered up to £3,000 to move to Rwanda'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ey-Rwanda.html

Sunak's going to send these Migrants for a holiday to Rwanda at the taxpayers expense is he, the only problem with that is, when the money runs out these Migrants will be back here with their hand out begging for some more money, its going to be an another epic failure by Sunak and his brain dead MPs.

The Bucket Plan.
I have a better plan than that one, why doesn't someone fill a bucket with water and stick Sunak's head in it for an hour, rinse and repeat for all Tory MPs who thinks Sunak's plan is a good idea.

Get a Border Force Bucket prepared and start sticking the crews heads in it, I'm sure they'll get the point of the message eventually, hmmmmm, the Civil Service needs a bucket as well.

There has to be a penalty for failure and a bucket of water is it, the Cost?, how much is a bucket of water worth?, a lot cheaper than £3,000 I expect.

[Jimbuna]

^ A major betrayal of all those relying on food banks and our own homeless, quite a number of who are ex-service personnel.